Voice of OZ
by Eule Vix
Summary: Carlos was a man of logic, science, and generally things that made sense. So when he's thrust into a world with a small girl who looks like his cousin as a three eye'd Medusa and hair covered trees he questions if he's possibly dead or in a coma, its the only explanation. Right? (Blood and gore warning, CecilxCarlos, not Slash [sorry], Major Character Death, MxM, FxF)
1. Through the Water, Over the Rainbow

The Voice of Oz

By Eule Vix

Disclaimer: I do not own Welcome to NightVale, I do not make any money off this story.

Chapter 1: Through the Water, Over the Rainbow

Carlos liked to think he was well traveled. He liked to think of himself as a man of pure science and fact and logic. He rubbed his eyes ignoring his drenched locks of hair around his face. Maybe he was dead, no he _had_ to be dead. That would be the only explanation as to why his niece Melody, or at least the creature that looked like his niece, was standing in front of him. Her hands outstretched with little white claws tipping each finger, her hair wiggling and squirming like a bowl of snakes, and her clothes covered in mud. Her three eyes piercing him with her stare of unknowable horrors she had seen, a gaze lingered and dancing with death. His mind whirled as he tried to determine who or what it was in front of him, for it was most certainly not Melody, it couldn't be.

He felt himself slip a little back into the dark pool that he half lay in; it was no time to try and figure out who or what he was seeing. He tried to pull himself out further from the small pond, the pounding in his head causing him to see sparks under the blood falling into his eyes. He drug himself as close to the girl as possible, his mind too bogged and hurt to even try to think if she was friend of foe. All he knew was that she held out a hand and he needed to grasp it.

He reached as far as his arms could before he blacked out from the pain, only the warm feeling of his hand being held and wet cold over his body lingered in his mind.

[+]-[+]-[+]

Carlos was sure, as he carefully brought the tip of the dropper closer to the rim of the test tube, he was _absolutely sure_ it would work this time. It _had_ to or he was going to scream. The ions, structure, periodical alignment, everything indicated it should work. If it did who knows what he would have created, a new element or a new synthetic compound? Either way, something _should_ happen, something _had_ to happen. His hand lingered with the dropper filled with a bright blue liquid above the test tube of clear liquid.

Of course he was hesitant; his heart pounded and shook in the cage of his chest for he was about to put one element into another _without_ know what kind of exothermic or endothermic reaction might come from it. For all he knew it could explode in his face, peppering him with glass and acidic compounds, it could burn or freeze his skin instantly, it could instead turn into a mass that could melt though the floor. Any of these were possible, and Carlos felt nothing but the pure thrill of chemical science. In the back of his mind he reminded himself he should find hobbies that are a lot less dangerous, and should probably stop using them to procrastinate on the _actual_ projects he had to run experiments on. For now though all that mattered was his steady hand and the small bubble of blue at the end of the dropper just about to fall into the tube below.

Then the phone rang.

He had forgotten to turn off his ringer, the loud tones echoed though the lab that was empty except for him, ultimately startling Carlos bad enough to pinch the end of the dropper squeezing a large amount of its contents into the glass vial.

At first, he was so startled all he could think of was trying to grab the phone, throwing it's fit of harsh sounds and vibration against the metal desk across from him. Then as he took his second frantic step towards it, he realized how much of the liquid he had just pumped into his experiment. He ran back to the tube only to find that the two elements remained separate, and that absolutely nothing had happened, no reaction at all. Carlos let out a string of curse words as he felt like flipping the table, because not only was the experiment completely and totally _ruined_ and would have to do it again, but he already knew nothing would come of it. It reminded him of his high school days when the teachers would force him to re-read books that he had already read and was _horrible _in the first place. The sound of the phone ringing clawed its way back to the for-front of him mind, screaming for Carlos to answer.

He huffed out a sign, his shoulders now slumped in disappointment and moved back towards the direction of the phone, answering it just before the last ring with a quick glace to see who it was.

"Hola mama'."

"Carlos! Ahí estás! Nos preocupaba, ¿dónde estás?" He felt a bit nervous at the sound of her voice, it was obviously filled with panic. He searched his mind trying to see if maybe he had forgotten a scheduled meal with her, or something to that extent, that would cause her to worry about him as she was. Nothing came to mind so for the moment he was sure he didn't have anywhere but the lab that he really needed to be.

"Estoy en el laboratorio de la mamá. ¿Por qué? ¿Hubo algo que me olvidé?"

"En el laboratorio?! Oh Carlos, mi pequeño Carlito, que es el Día de Muertos. ¿Cómo podría olvidar?" He felt his body go ridged, he did _completely_ forget what day it was, let alone that is was Dia be Muertos. He groaned into the phone, disappointed him himself, and knowing that now he was going to be not only chastised over the phone but when he did finally get there as well.

"Lo siento mamá, se me olvidó. Usted sabe como el laboratorio es, ha sido muy ocupado por aquí últimamente ..." It was only a partial lie, the lab had been a very busy place of activity lately. They had just gotten the funding for their newest and probably most important project Carlos had ever been apart of. However, he had been putting it off with things such as completing older projects, or filling his own time with hobbies. He wasn't necessarily avoiding the project, just avoiding a particular person who was drastically tied to the project. He was going to put it off for as long as he could. However the side effects of avowing the lab seemed to also help him avoid important plans he made with his family.

"Carlos, tu siempre atascado en el laboratorio! ¿Cuándo estás haciendo para hacer algo productivo con su vida, como finalmente encontrar a una chica y establecerse. Tener algunos niños. Sabes que me gustaría tener nietos antes de que yo tengo sesenta y cinco!" Carlos flinched first, the angry tones of his mom barreling though to his ears in painful tones. As she got towards the end of her small rant Carlos couldn't help but be infuriated. His whole family knew that he was gay, he was one of the very few openly gay workers at the Labs; he had tried to hide it years ago and just couldn't withstand the agony of having to bury himself under false actions and people. Still, it didn't make him any less infuriated at his mother that she refused to accept that he indeed did like men, and that _no_ he was not going to 'settle down' soon, especially with a woman; and don't even get him started on kids! However instead of answering her he avoided the subject, letting it slide. He didn't want to fight that fight right now.

"Bueno, voy a limpiar aquí en el laboratorio y luego me precipito sobre. Estará todo el mundo todavía estará allí?"

"Sí lo haremos, sólo estar aquí pronto Carlos! Hablaremos más cuando llegue aquí. Ah, y no te olvides de recoger algo para su abuela! Si ha olvidado hoy, entonces yo sé que te olvidarás de la comida."

"Gracias por el recordatorio mamá, yo iré a terminar pronto."

"Sea seguro mi pequeño Carlito. te quiero" He internally moaned at having to say 'I love you.' Back to her. It wasn't that he didn't love her, he did, she was his mother and family was important to Carlos; even if that family were bigots most of the time, they were still important. He was just currently mad at he for what she had said, and because he was unable to vent it out to her, or anyone, he just didn't feel like it. Still to be polite he replied back to her, just wanting to end the phone call.

"Te quiero demasiado mamá. Adiós"

"Adiós Carlos."

He waited till he was sure he had touched his phone hanging up the call, before he let out a frustrated moan and stomped towards where his hobby experiment was. He took his time to clean up despite his anger, practically because of the corrosive chemicals, partially because he wasn't ready for more berating and hate, and mostly because he had originally been waiting for someone. Carlos made another mental note to try and practice better scheduling technics because planning to meet a friend on a very important holiday was only his own poor planning. Regardless of how important it was to be with his family, he at least wanted to see his friend before he left for the day. She had flown with her daughter all the way back to Phoenix for her own family and was only able to see him for the day. Maybe it would work out a little better if he could convince her to come with him, but even if it didn't at the least they would have a short talk and make plans for later; hopefully this time without any conflictions.

Carlos finished disposing of the chemicals, finished cleaning the instruments he had used, and let them out to air before he went to lay down on a small cot of his he had in the lab. He had always been one of those scientists who would stay days at the lab working diligently, craving the idea of a break through. He used the small cot to be able to take small naps when needed and his fellow scientists would affectionately call him 'mad' for it, because he was the only one who didn't ever want to go home. If he was honest with himself, he was glad that those he worked with were comfortable enough to joke with him; they were the closest things to friends he had at the moment that still lived in the state. Still, sometimes he would think on how if they had nothing but an empty studio apartment to go home too, they might be doing the same as he was now. For him now, with his closest and only friend hopefully to be busting down the doors soon, he could feel the loneliness of his existence and the harshness that was his family.

He lay in the cot, scratchy and worn, just a little less than thirty minutes before there was a knock on the door to him lab. Glad to have a reason to push off the buzz of negative thoughts out of his mind he rushed to the door after calling to it that he would be just a moment. He threw open the door to have warm arms thrown around him nearly knocking him off his feet.

"Trish!"

"Carlos!"

"Uncle Carlos!" Squeaked a voice from behind his longtime friend Trishel as the body that belonged to the voice joined the hug between the two. The dark natural hair of his friend was starting to tickle his face as he pulled away leaned down and gave the small stocky thirteen year old girl a hug.

"How is my favorite niece!" It didn't matter that they weren't blood related, or that Carlos was in truth her god-father, he preferred to be called her Uncle and he cared for he as though she was; besides being called Uncle made him feel younger somehow. Melody rushed to hug him back a second time. They broke apart, Carlos then standing back to take in the two. Trishel's hair was lose, no longer tied into the braids she used to wear. He dark skin looked softer than it had in the years before when he last saw her, more used to the weathered and dry skin she used to sport when she lived in Arizona. He daughter on the other hand sported cornrows, the young skin almost the same color of her mothers, just slightly lighter.

"My, don't you two look great!" All the horrid feelings of before had completely melted away by now, and the clean feeling of having those who he cared about and who truly cared for hi as well soaked and drenched his soul. He felt that he could now handle whatever his family might throw at him, at least he still had _this_ family.

"Oh no, _don't_ you get me started Carlos." Trishel exclaimed as she wondered into the lab, her daughter trailing behind her starting to scamper around the lab looking at the various set up equipment and experiments. "I forgot how _hot_ it still can be even in the fall. Do you know I've already had to change shirts twice today. _Twice_ Carlos! I plan to before I leave get the damned air conditioning_ and _windows of my dad's fixed. I am not going through all of my shirts before my stay is over." Carlos briefly though of the old Trishel, of how she would take him hiking and camping, never caring of what the world thought of her looks. She had changed a lot in the time she got married and move away from the desert. It was going to take a little bit to get used to yes, be he was glad to see her brash personality was still intact. Carlos let out a chuckle before he spoke.

"Well, I did warn you what the temperature was looking to be. Not my fault that you didn't pack right." Only with he could he afford to be snarky, she always felt more like a sister then his friend; more sibling then his own brother did.

"I still blame you. You failed to mention how _lazy_ my family had gotten." She smiled at him, despite her complaints he could tell she was glad to be home. He was about to change the subject when Melody came running up to them, her hand searching in a black backpack she had been carrying.

"P-please don't run in the lab Melody!" If she fell she could hit something, and right now the lab was filled with dangerous equipment and chemicals; last thing he wanted was for this day to end in her getting hurt. She slowed down as she pulled a thick book out of her backpack.

"Oh…Sorry, Uncle Carlos." She walked the rest of the way fisting the book towards him. "But, I finished it on the way here, so I need a new book!" Now he felt excited, he loved how insatiable her mind was, how he had been sending her books for nearly a year now of anything he could find that seemed to be interesting and powerful as a written work. He didn't know much and would mostly research the books online, finding ones that had been banned or that were famous. He was glad that he had a few he had been waiting to send her, and that they were still in the packaging from amazon when he received them at the lab. He _had_ been meaning to bring them home and repackage them for a week; Carlos was not the best at other-worldly things that didn't relate to science. However it seemed to have been the better result since here she was now and he would be able to save a little money.

"So quickly?" She nodded slowly, with power and pride in her movements. Trishel chimed in.

"You wouldn't believe it Carlos. She puked at least three times on the plan from motion sickness and then once more on the way here. I _tried_ to get her to take some Dramamine but she refused and kept reading." Trishel was more sending looks and speaking undertones of scolding at her daughter then really talking to Carlos.

"But _mom_," She wined "I was so close to the end, and if I didn't I wouldn't be able to get new books _now_."

"Speaking of which…" Carlos took the book from Melody's hand, hoping his breaking in between them would stifle the possible scolding of the child as well as quell the small brewing argument between teenager and parent. He rushed to the closet in the back of the lab, grabbing three small packages and brought them to the girl.

"I got quite a few this time, since their smaller. I read that most of them warrant a second read though to get all the details so hopefully they'll keep you out of trouble;" He could feel a heated stare from Trishel, so he quickly added "and make sure to not read while in motion and to listen to your mother otherwise." Melody was doing her best to hide her disappointment of his dis-approval of her actions, his heart panged guiltily, but it was what was right. "Okay?" She sighed.

"Okay…I'll _try_ Uncle Carlos." She quickly took the boxes, scampered to the cot and sat down beginning to unpackaged them immediately. Carlos felt a little relieved that she was going off to distract herself for the moment. He wanted to catch up with Trishel as much as he could before he had to leave.

"You encourage her too much Carlos." Her voice reverberated with a mix of exhaustion and pride; happy she was learning, frustrated that she was so bull headed about it.

"I do what I can." He said playfully back. There was a light silence for a moment between them before Carlos spoke. "She's going to be an amazing and brilliant woman when she gets older. The possibilities before her are endless Trishel."

"Well, I want her possibilities to be that of a Doctor." She folded her arms across her chest into a comfortable position as she watched her daughter open the cardboard boxes as though it was her birthday. "Think you might be able to start sending her some medical books or things of the such?" Carlos recoiled mentally. He disliked the idea of starting to send her technical books, since he tried to once send her a book on biology and she sent it back immediately with a sticky note that said 'wont read, send another' in the unsteady cursive of Melody's handwriting. He them put down a bet that Trishel didn't even know that had happened since she was asking for practically the same thing.

"I'll see what I can do, but I'll include some of the normal book too. She really seems to like those." He didn't want to cause trouble, but he also didn't want to deprive the small girl of what she so obviously loved.

"Carlos, she can't keep her head in the clouds forever!" She moved her arms in frantic pleading motions. "Now that she's about to get into high school she needs to start thinking of her career, what she's going to do in college, let alone which college she's going to get into. If she's always reading those plays and books of fantasy she'll never make it past her Bachelors!"

"Don't you think you're jumping the gun a bit Trish?" She crooked her eye and folded her arms back against herself, he felt as though he should already know the answer; and to be honest he did.

"If _I_ had the chances she had, if _I_ had parents that cared about me like that, I would have gotten a lot farther then just working some stupid office job. I could have done so much Carlos…" He remembered how close to their senior year Trishel had to work a full time job because her family was hit hard by the recession. He remembered how though she hardly ever got sleep, and her grades suddenly dropped she still managed to pass. But most of all he remembered how she never got to go to college, though she wanted to, and how she had to give up her dreams to make sure her family could eat each day. Trishel was a strong woman, she had learned to do what was needed to be done rather then what she wanted to do. He knew she was trying to let Melody have the chances she never got; it wasn't his place really to say otherwise.

"Well –" He started but again his phone began to scream for attention. This time the only one who was startled was Melody who seemed to have her face buried in one of the books. Carlos sighed having a good hunch who it was, since it was getting close to a hour since they had last talked.

"One moment, I need to get this." He went to the phone and saw that he was right. He glanced and gave Trishel an apologetic look.

"Oh, did you finally get a boyfriend?" She said excitedly. She had been trying to set him up for _years_ with someone, but no one seemed to take. He let out an exasperated sigh as he handled the phone about to answer.

"I wish." He touched the answer button and greeted his mother for a second time. As he expected she scolded him for not leaving the lab yet, and not yet being there, for making his brother and Aunts wait, how the food they had was getting cold and they had already started eating. He bemoaned as she continued to guilt trip him for taking his time, he made excuses saying that he had spilt some chemicals and had to clean them up and whatever else he could tell her to sate her anger and get her off the phone. After about ten minutes he was able to get her to hang up, he looked regretfully over at Trishel before he spoke.

"Well, I'm the master of screwing up plans."

"Old new Carlo, what's the new headliner?" she smirked as he remembered she knew him almost as well as he knew himself.

"Well, would you be interested in coming with me to the start of the Day of the Dead? My family is visiting my Grandmother's grave today. I promise we can pick something up for you both to eat that won't be too harsh on the spice as well." He was almost willing to promise anything if it would make them go with them.

"Well, I would have to drop Melody at her grandfather's first, it is Halloween and since I had to buy her a costume I would like her to at least get _one_ use out of it. So if you don't mind waiting for me-"

"Not at all!" Carlos was just happy he wouldn't be surrounded by people he felt all hated his very existence, that at least one person understood him and liked who he was. "I'll text you the address now, so just head over when you're ready. Any food requests?" He was already pressing the keys to send her the promised text.

"As long as your mother's cooking I don't think I have any problem."

"Since when did you like spicy food?"

"Since I decided that anyone's food is better than the 'ninja' chicken my husband makes." Carlos paused in the middle of his texted and looked at her confused.

"Ninja chicken?"

"He forgot he was making chicken wings in the oven. I swear they were so hard they could have been used as ninja stars!" She let out a hearty short laugh at the memory, causing Carlos to join her had he returned to the text.

"Well, just remind me that when I come to visit to also have a meal plan so I can make you some good food for a change." Trishel wasn't the best cook, so by her description he could guess most of their meals ended up being out of a package, burnt, or just take out.

"That would be nice Carlos. I'll keep you to that."

"Sounds good, and sent." He looked up to see she had already moved to where Melody was as she helped carry some of the books that didn't fit in her backpack. She had at least 10 new books, a variety of sizes from as thin as a deck of cards to as thick as a can of soda. All in all he had bought her around 10 books, he hoped it would be enough. Trish was carrying three of the books that didn't quite fit in the pack as she went to say good bye to Carlos.

"It was good to see you, and I shouldn't be too long getting to the party okay." She hugged him with her only free hand, he returned the embrace with as much strength as he could without hurting them with the books between them. He wished he was a man of words, someone who could say what they felt; but he wasn't, and so he would never be able to really express how much her friendship meant to him. For now this was the best he could do.

"Wonderful. Be safe then you two." He released her and again bent down to hug Melody.

"We will Uncle Carlos, and _thank you _so much for the books! I love them already!" She was excited, but there was a lingering tone in the depths of her voice, he couldn't pin out what it was so he left it be.

"I'm glad you do, and make sure to at least take some medicine if you're going to be reading in the car." She whined, broke the embrace, and rushed for the door. Carlos straightened and watched her push open the door, as she stuck out her tongue and pulled down the skin from under one of her eyes.

"Lets see you try Uncle Carlos!" She beamed before scampering out the door.

"Melody! Get back here and apologize!" Trishel ran to the door and called down the hall. "Melody!" She turned to Carlos, looking worn down and angry by the trials of motherhood. "Sorry Carlos, I'll call you once I'm headed your way okay?" She waved goodbye to him before he could respond and in a second after that she was gone rushing to catch up with her daughter. Carlos couldn't help but smile at the two.

After a moment, he took a deep breath and decided it was time he headed off as well. He went and quickly cleaned up the mess of styrofoam peanuts, bubble wrap, paper, and cardboard that littered the area of the cot. Once he finished picking up the mess he put away the small bed and straightened op what else he could of the lab. He knew he was stalling, he didn't care, it was worth it for a small few minutes to be away from his family still. Eventually there was nothing left he could do, so he grabbed his phone stuffing it in one of his coat pockets and started to head out. Before he reached the door he realized his body felt quite light and remembered that he had brought his laptop that day and he was about to leave it. He turned back, found it slinging the back strap over his shoulder, and walked briskly out the door.

There was a certain luxury of working for a lab that wasn't a part of a university since he could come in on days that no one else was working. As he rushed through the empty halls, soaking in the sounds of his feet squeaking against the linoleum floor, his mind busy with what his plans were for the rest of the day. He became so self-absorbed he completely missed the additional sounds of shoes that mingled with his that were coming from around the corner.

He had his left hand touching the wall feeling the small bumps and ridges glide under the tips of his fingers of the speckled wall. His body followed closely around the sharp angle of the wall, whipping him around and also giving him no time to react to colliding into the body of someone else and knocking them both to the floor. The sound of glasses clattering along the ground with an accompaniment of 'oofs' followed by a low groan. Carlos found himself sprawled on his back, classes crooked on his face and laptop laying on his stomach, luckily not having hit the floor. He spoke as he sat up, straightening his glasses.

"I'm so, so sorry! I wasn't paying attention, are you alright? I didn't hurt you did I?" Carlos was not use to physical contact with anyone, this being true he wasn't sure what kind of damage he could do to someone he just bulldozed flat. He himself felt ok, his head didn't crack against the ground though he fell backwards, his shoulders and ass did hurt from whatever impact they suffered but not bad enough to warrant any panic.

Now that he could see clearly he looked to see two men in front of him, one who was sitting as well, propped up on his right hand as he used his right to rub the back of his head, his black looked like a small sea, small locks rolling in waves over each other yet neatly combed and well taken care of. His skin was dusty tan color; quite possibly only a shade lighter the Carlos's own.

He took a quick look at the poor person he had accidentally assaulted. He wore an odd match of clothing, the pants were a fairly normal navy blue however he noticed the suit that he wore. It was a odd pattern of small white diamond shaped windows, seemingly randomly placed, against a color the mix of the brightest pink and lightest purple. The trim on his cuffs, collar, trim on the bottom, and along the center had stripes of purple gently painted with think lines of white along it. Underneath was a white shirt with small purple dots in an even pattern accented with a deep, almost black, purple tie. For as strange and odd as it was, Carlos found himself quite liking the ensemble. He did his best to pull his stare away, not so much out of nervousness but more out of fear; fear of the man he knew loomed above them both at the moment. He remembered the sound of glasses, and since he had his own on his face he could easily guess who was missing theirs. The had landed quite close to him, so without much thought he reached out picking up the glasses and on his hands and knees moved to give the man his specs.

"Here." Carlos held the glasses out, one hand propping him up as his knees were pressing against the cold floor. The man opened his eyes with a start, and leaned forward a little to be able to take the glasses from Carlos's hand.

He was lost in the eyes of the man who was in front of him. His eyes were a blue so dark it was purple, no he was wrong they _were _purple. They seemed alight from the inside, tiny flecks of white speckled around the irises. They reminded him of amethyst gems uncut and raw in their beauty. No. They were swirls of galaxies and untold wonder, shining with the light of the starts. No, not even that was right. They were the tailed edge of the very fabric of space, unraveling and twisting back in its self, dark matter dancing with the lights between worlds unknown and intangible dimensions. Yet, even that could not describe the unfathomable wonder that was the man's eyes. Carlos was shaken from his thoughts as a voice that sounded like the softest velvet to his ears, or maybe the darkest of chocolates spoke to him.

"T-thank you." Carlos then felt the glasses removed from his hand so he quickly leaned back, worried that if he stayed close he might lose himself in those eyes again.

"No need for thanks, it was my fault in the first place." He watched the now sitting man fiddle a little with his glasses, making sure they did not break in any way. Carlos tore his sight away from the man and pulled himself up to standing.

"Are you hurt at all?" He said once fully standing, hand outstretched and offered to the man now fixating his glasses on his face. Those lovely eyes peered at him from behind the black framed glasses, they then moved to the offered hand before the man reached up and took it.

"I'm fine, r-really…" The man stumbled a bit as Carlos helped him to his feet. He didn't fall and seemed to gain his footing back quickly, relieving Carlos of the worry the fall might happen a second time. He let go of the man's hand as the sick voice of the other man who had been watching the whole time finally spoke.

"Glad to hear it. That was quite a doozy you took there." The man beside him, his skin clean, light, and without blemish. His hair a gross mop of black hair nestled on his head. Just his very existence burned a hate in Carlos like he never knew. Him and that one guy in the Sociology Research Group were the only people he could ever define as those that he hated. The man before him was Joshua, head of his department, the man without even a vague sense of what the scientific method even was. Joshua Alcove, the man who had made his everyday life a living hell since he had been hired a month ago. Joshua, the man with a degree in business and fake smiles, who would take any moment he could to humiliate Carlos with his bigoted views and narrow-mindedness. Joshua, who within that month of him being hired had already tried to fire Carlos three times but had failed miserably when he couldn't find a good enough reason to convince the higher-ups; not to mention the _years_ Carlos had worked at the labs without a single complaint before. Carlos did his best to hide his anger; a little because of the stranger with the galaxy eyes and mostly because he didn't want to give the douchebag an actual reason to get him fired.

"It was, but I-I'm fine I promise." Carlos was now at a loss of what to say or do, he _really_ wanted to stay and talk with the man, to find out about him. But he already knew what he felt was a passing infatuation. He had felt it before, he must admit not quite this strong, but he had and in the times before that he had entered into the relationship that followed it always ended in flames; usually because of him and his uncontrolled love for science. He didn't want to put anyone through that anymore, nor himself. He just had to not think about it, let the feeling die, and make sure that he never saw this man again if he could help it. Still didn't help that he was, regardless of this knowledge, starting to feel nervous.

"I'm still sorry for bumping into you like that." Carlos absently ran his hand through the long curls of black hair he sported, feeling un-kept and a mess. The man, who Carlos now noticed was his same height, was not thin nor fat, and had features that were fairly normal; not including his eyes of course. He was about to speak when Joshua decided to chime in.

"_You_ should keep a better eye out then." His eyes, such a dark color that he could not see then, squinted dangerously. His normally fairly high voice suddenly went to a more low and threatening tone. "Wouldn't want anything to pulled out from under you when you're not looking." Oh yes, how he hated his man. He would very much rather deal with Greg right about now. Greg might be a jerk as well, he might always put his two cents in where no one wants to hear it; but at least he doesn't threaten him job for bigoted beliefs. Carlos's nervousness quickly evaporated, and he was quite glad for it. He straightened his coat as he started to walk around the two men.

"I will. Now excuse me, I have somewhere to be."

"Carlos." He had just walked past Joshua as his voice oozed from his mouth. He forced his best smile onto his face and turned back towards the two.

"Yes Mr. Alcove."

"Wait, Carlos? Dr. Carlos Ramirez?" The oddly dressed beautiful man stammered. Carlos nodded in confirmation, slightly scared of why he was suddenly so excited at just the mention of his name. He suddenly reached into the pockets of his pants pulling out a tape recorder and a few small mics that were attached to it, his eyes gleamed. "I-I originally came here hoping to interview you on the new project your heading." The grip on the tape recorder tightened as he continued.

"You see I work for one of the local stations on the radio. We're small but Mr. Alcove informed us of your project, and I-uh, we, were excited and wanted the full story on it. You know, get the scoop before any of the other stations flocked in." As stunning as the man was, there was no way he would be able to indulge in the reporters request. Not just because he still had his family waiting on him, but more because it had been Joshua himself that requested the interview without his knowledge. The man, taking Carlos's small silence as some kind social of indication, let out a small gasp before exclaiming.

"Oh! Um, I should probably introduce myself. Cecil Palmer from the KXCR Radio Station." He outstretched his hand towards Carlos, who gladly took it, finally finding the words to form his reply to the newly named man.

"Cecil," He liked the way his name lulled off his tongue. He liked how it seemed to remind him of peaches and sun bitten dust. But he had to turn him down in his request and it filled Carlos with regret to do so. "I'm terribly sorry, but I really do need to be going. However I would be happy to plan an interview to be taken on a later day." Cecil's face hashed with disappointment, but he still kept a faint smile on his lips. He let go of Carlos's hand placing the tape recorder back into his pocket and pulling out a business card instead and handed it to Carlos.

"Then give me a call, anytime, and we'll plan it out." He smiled as Carlos gingerly took the hard paper from his hands. "Maybe we could do even do a live interview." Carlos was all for an interview, just not in any way a _live_ interview. Not right now, and not ever. His voice had always been another one of those things he didn't like about himself. Wheezy and high for a guy's, thinking about his voice being broadcasted for everyone to hear just made him stomach seize. He would have to turn Cecil down later.

"Thank you, Cecil. I will call you when I can." Not wanting to be in the presence of Joshua any longer he stuffed the card into his pocket and headed off. Glad not to hear his name be called out again.

He headed out to his Coop and quickly jumped into his car. He _should_ be putting on his seat belt and speeding off; but he found himself, just for a moment, letting his mind wonder to the wonderful gorgeous man that was named Cecil. Slowly, he reminded himself again the dangers of him dating, and the pain that always came with. He turned the car on and headed out of the parking lot. As he swung by the entrance he saw Cecil leaving the building and heading to his own car. Carlos felt a his guilt from earlier rise as he realized he had come all this way, from where he was, just on the chance of an interview. As much as he hated it, mainly for the fact that it would be to see him again and to try to put out any starting 'flames' for the man, but he would need to make it up to him somehow. On a later day, and if he remembered.

Carlos made his way to the streets, now feeling the rush and hurry and dread of going to see his family. He turned onto Mill Ave, speeding when he could, through the small streets. For now the streets were clear, since he was headed south on Mill he knew he would soon be on the other side of the concrete bridge; going past small slow streets surrounded by local shops crowded with students. He should have gone around, but it was too late.

He didn't know why, or how, but a large brown UPS truck, speeding more than him suddenly pulled ahead cutting him off and almost hitting his car. He was about to honk, he was about to switch lanes, he had been about to say a lot of things; but it happened so fast. The UPS Truck that swerved into his lane continued to swing about the road, Carlos realizing the truck was _out of control_. He went to slam on his brakes just as the truck took a sharp left, tipped over onto its side, and slamming into the concrete decorative fence. It skidded and knocked a large hole in the bridge's railing, one big enough for at least two more cars to slide though with ease. Then Carlos slammed on his brakes, his tires squealed and he turned his car aiming for the right away from the large gash. His car was knocked back into its lane by the car beside him, he looked over and swore he could see the evil glint of Joshua's black eyes from the man in the car. He didn't have to worry, if he didn't stop in the next few second he was going over the bridge. He went to plan B and grabbing and pulling the hand brake leaver of his car; the car jerked and the scream of the tires rung in his ears, his car swung to the left facing the opening; be he still stopped in time.

He still could hear the squeal of tires, so he looked to his left just in time to see the car that he had hit in the other lane was barreling for his. It swerved and crashed into the back of his car, which now was hanging half off the bridge. He looked into the car, and saw no one inside. He didn't have much time to think because cars on the road started to plow into their car, a pileup inevitable from the busy road. It was by the third car that his car started to tip, and by the fourth that it started to fall. He braced himself for the inevitable impact as he watched the front of his car rush towards the water.


	2. This Time, There Are No Slippers

The Voice of Oz

By Eule Vix

Disclaimer: I do not own Welcome to Night Vale, I do not make any money off this story.

Chapter 2: This Time, There Are No Slippers

At first all he could feel was the sharp digging of the seatbelt into the flesh of his shoulder as he started to wake. Beneath the ringing that was in his ears he could hear the rush of water seeping in through cracks. His head throbbed painfully as the cold liquid lapped at his scalp. He groaned and opened his eyes, vision blurred and disjointed because of the skewed position of his glasses. He reached up and fixed them, the clear sight of the inside of the cabin now focused despite the new crack along his left lens. Outside all of his windows all he could see was a dark abyss completely surrounding him.

His mind slowly started to piece together where he was and what had transpired. He remembered the cars, the breaking of a bridge, and the rush of water coming to meet the face of his car; but it ended there. He tried to reach forward and touch the chilled windshield, but the movement caused a searing pain to burst from his head. He relaxed back and moved a hand to his head, feeling through his soaked dangling hair. When he reached near the top of his head he winced from sudden pain, and when he withdrew his hand he could see the red streaks of blood and water weaving across his fingers.

The sight of his own blood sent a shock through his system. It pulled him enough out of his stupor to realize that his car was completely submerged and he was running out of time. He turned to his door, pulling the handle and pushing as hard as he could but it remained steadfast from the pressure of the water. Ignoring the shooting pain from his head he leaned back as best as he could and rammed himself into the door. He tried again, and again, and it still refused to move. He abandoned it, frantically looking around him for some other way out as his breaths became quick and his lungs burned from the rapidly dwindling air. An idea struck him, he turned back to the door and started to jab at the buttons, hoping one of the windows might still work. If he could get it open he could get out. But as he pressed repeatedly, not a single one budged.

"Hijo de puta! Come on!" He slammed a fist down against the door and tried the buttons again but the result was the same.

His heart raced, his breath was short, and he could feel the air start to become thin in the small confines of the car. He needed to think, but he found himself unable to focus through the sounds of water and rapid pulses of blood in his ears. With shaky hands he struggled with his seatbelt, the world seeming to throb around him and a dark ebony black creeping at the edges of his vision. He heard a soft click before he slammed down on his head, the seatbelt jarring his left shoulder in the fall. His body crumpled oddly, his head submerged in water and his legs caught on the steering wheel. He swallowed a gulp of the water as he tried to breathe. He reached and pushed and grabbed at all he could till he was sitting up crouched on the inside roof of his car. He hacked and sputtered from the dirty water, a hand over his mouth

Once his fits of coughing stopped, he was able to take in ragged breaths. The throbbing in his head calmed and the darkness in his vision fell away to just a thin black outline at the edges of his eyes. His breathing became deeper and less erratic as the water swam around his legs. The film that covered his mind started to fade, his mind truly starting to catch up to the situation at hand. The water was rising at an exponential rate, to where he half-ass calculated that he might have five minutes before the car was filled. He started a small checklist of what he had tried in his head. He came to the conclusion that all he had left to try was to find something to smash one of the windows open or to wait and hope someone was able to save him before he drowned. The likelihood of being saved being a near zero he started to scour under the water hoping he could find something.

After a while he cursed himself, for of course today had to be the one day his car had been clean, free of any possible tools. All he had been able to find was the drenched case of his laptop, the thin electronic piece more than likely destroyed by the water, as his only weapon. He crawled to the window and started to plan his strategy. He put the strap of the case over his neck so that he wouldn't have to search for it again as he started to fiddle with the seatbelt of the passenger seat. If he did manage to break through the glass he didn't want to become pinned by the water. He put himself between the loop of the belt, hoping that once the water came rushing in he would be able to hold onto the strip. Once he made sure he had it at his waist he grabbed the case and after finding a comfortable and as powerful position as he could, aimed and smashed the side of the case into the center of the window.

It bounced off the glass, excruciating vibrations moving up his arms causing him to cry out and drop the case. He waited till the ache in his bones lessened before he again grabbed the laptop and swung again. It again was repulsed back, and this time he ignored the pain and bashed it against the window again and again. He could feel a sting in his eyes and a slight wetness start to form at the corners as his attempts continued to make no dent. It was when he reared back for the fifth time that he heard the small sound of cracking glass; a small crack now in the middle of the window like the tiny web of a spider. He felt like laughing, it was actually working. But now was not the time to celebrate, the water was up to his waist and he already had too little room left. He made sure the seatbelt was properly positioned and he again struck the glass, aiming for the center of the small fissure.

With each hit the break grew, weaving in jagged patterns of solid lightning. Little spouts of water began to spray out between them as he came closer to his freedom. When he could tell that it would only take one or two more hits he curled a bit more around the belt as he swung at the window. A shattering sound quickly drowned by the rushing water as the glass gave way. He let go of the case and instinctively closed his eyes and sucked in a breath and clung tightly to the belt as the water came hurtling towards him.

He waited, his lungs fevered with need for air. He felt the pressure equalize and that he could now easily move through the window. He swam desperately, not caring of the sharp kisses from the glass that cut his skin as coat as he moved through. He found it easier to swim then he thought it would be, as though there were invisible hands helping and pulling him to the surface.

He breached, gasping for the needed air, choking on the water that had seeped into his lungs. He swam for the edge, finding an odd girl waiting and a strong but small hand reaching out.

[+]-[+]-[+]

Slowly reality started to ebb back into his body. He could feel the pounding in his skull and the throb of the cuts that covered his body. Everything hurt and ached and burned. He opened his eyes, his vision filled with a dark blur and silhouette of tall dark green and purple splotched things which were illuminated by the red and orange flicker of fire.

Again he found himself unable to clearly picture the events that had transpired. So he closed his eyes and took catalog. Slowly, he remembered the cry of bending metal, rush of water, and shattering of glass. He remembered the desperate gulps of air and him taking the hand of some hallucination before falling unconscious. He opened his eyes again, his heart racing and his fists clenched. Again he was met with an un-seeable night sky as he upon some dusty floor. He could feel he was mostly naked save for the bandages and underwear that still donned his body.

He was outside, naked, and most certainly not in a hospital where he should have woke up.

He attempted to sit up, only succeeding in causing a splitting pain to rip through his head. He moaned and lay his head back against the ground. He moved a hand to his head in a feeble attempted to still the throbbing.

"Don't move so much. Unless you want the pain, then by all means."

His eyes went wide. He knew that voice. From the countless phone calls and occasional meetings after long flights, he would know Melody's voice anywhere. But he could feel a small fear well in his chest. The voice might have been her's but it was darker, no, stronger than her's. He turned his head to where the voice came from, across from where the fire burned. On the other side sat his hallucination in the vague form of Melody.

"But, I would prefer that you refrain from trying to go unconscious again."

He blinked repeatedly as he stared at the wriggling mass upon her head, not able to believe that it might actually be some slithering dark mass of snakes. He wanted to sit up, to find his glasses, and truly make sure of what he was seeing; there was no logical way that a mini-Medusa was watching him from across the fire.

"Glasses…" He had aimed to say a full sentence, but found his voice hoarse and throat scratchy, for now the one word was all he could manage.

The girl, or creature, stood up and moved to him. Once she was next to him he felt her small but strong hands gentle lift him up, he winced as she did the pain. It was still much less than when he tried to move himself. She carefully leaned him against something warm and a mix of soft and rugged like bark. He could feel tiny light hairs, like that of a cat, against his skin easing the bite of whatever lay beneath it. She moved to the side of the thing she had him leaned up against and came back dragging a long green and purple mass that she draped over him. It was warm and felt just as soft as the hairs behind him, but without the scratch of the wood-like texture. She tucked it around him, till he swore the mass might have been hugging him. He was sinking into the heat around him, on the brink of wanting to sleep again when he felt something metal and cold press against his face skewed and awkward. As the girl backed off he reached up and fixed his glasses, finding himself most definitely sitting in front of a mini-myth that should and could not exist.

"You're not real…" He blurted out. His pulse rose, but he was too drained to even think about doing anything except lean against the warmth on his back.

"Neither are you." She retorted, her arms cross against her body. "Yet here you are."

"Who are you?" She knelt down to his eye level and held up her index finger. His eyes met her's and he could only lingering fragments of Melody, the rest told a story of knowing too much death, hardship, and strife.

"Follow my finger." He did as he was told, forgetting that his question had been ignored. "Good." The girl then stood up and moved back around the fire, picking up some large lumpy black mass. With the think in her arms she moved back around and placed the mass in front of Carlos before sitting upon it comfortably. She crossed her arms and leaned her elbows against her knees and hunched over, studying his face.

"I need you to answer some questions for me, think you can do that?" He gaze was unbroken on him, building an uncomfortable prickling along his skin. Each time she blinked it alleviated it slightly, but it was unnervingly rare. He watched her hair, the light reflecting oddly off it as the mass seemed to move around and over itself. His mind clung to it, trying to decide what he was seeing now that he could see clearly.

"Hey. You can hear me, right?" It then dawned on him that he had been asked a question.

"Wh-what?...Oh. Yes I can do that. Why?" His ability to speak was still limited to short phrases and words, but the pain of his head was slowly becoming more manageable and the grog of sleep lifting.

"You have a concussion. I need to make sure you've been able to escape without any kind of permanent damage, or other problems. Make sure all of you mentally still intact." He tilted his head and scrunched his face, confused. He knew he had a concussion, but this girl of seemingly 12 had not only bandaged him but was already doing basic care for someone in his situation. It seemed, odd, to him though at the moment he could not fully explain why.

"How old are you?"

"Fourteen." So he was wrong, 14. She was quite short for her age.

"How do you…know all this medical stuff?" He then berated himself mentally, 'Great technical linguistics Carlos…'

"I read it in a book, 'The Complete Collection of Edger Allen Poe', one that fell from your world."

"Oh…" Carlos was sure that her answer made sense, it had to right? She was so confident in her answer.

"Now that I have answered your question, I want you to answer mine. What are you?" She spoke the question slowly, making eye contact. Carlos put a hand gently to his head to still the throbbing of his head more.

'What am I?' He thought to himself. He wasn't entirely sure what answer she was looking for. She hadn't asked for his name, maybe she wanted to know what his job was? She was certainly an interesting young girl.

"I am a Scientist…I suppose." The girl frowned.

"Never heard of one of those before. Your just an assortment of impossible things, aren't you?"

He did not know how to respond, and took to blankly staring at the young girl. He felt very possible, he had spent a very long time getting his degrees and learning all those languages. He was sure what he did might have been hard but impossible? His thoughts were cut short when she asked him another question.

"So, where did your come from Mr. Scientist?"

"Phoenix."

"Phoenix?"

"Yes…the Large City in the middle of the desert?" The girl nodded slowly, seeming to take his answer.

"Right…'Phoenix'. So, what do you do in 'Phoenix'." He chuckled, besides working on his project from work he found the city to be quite a lonely and simple place, at least for him. As he spoke he felt more clear though, his hand being quite the good temporary remedy for abating his headache.

"Not much, just work."

"What do you work on?" That was when the floodgates opened.

Carlos spent the next few hours, in the dark warmed by the, chatting to this young girl about isotopes and ions. He got into chemicals and their reactions; he talked about the biology and geology. The girl kept asking questions, and even though some things were not his field he knew enough of the basics to answer her questions. By the end his headache was nearly gone, and sleep was starting to take over him again, his eyelids drooping and the thoughts that her hair was definitely moving signifying that.

"Well," the girl stood up and grabbed the large mass she had been sitting on. Carlos thought he heard it faintly purr when she touched it. "It's getting quite late, and you seem to be fine. So it's time we slept."

She took his glasses and placed than near the now dying fire before then padded over to the other side. Once there she rubbed her hand on the underside of the mass she held. Carlos wasn't sure what happened after that. He knew that she somehow put it on, or he at least thought she put it on, but there had been something strange about it. He shook his head and gave himself a quick rub across his eyes. He was tired, he had just been in an accident and had a concussion, and he was for certain that he needed to sleep because he was seeing things. He looked back up, to see the girl now laying down on the ground, back to him, and wrapped up in a black sleeping bag. He was sure it was his time to follow suit, and pulled the soft fuzzy blanket more around his body and leaned to the left where it seemed to be hanging from, and soon fell into dreamless sleep.

[+]-[+]-[+]

He was warm and only slightly cramped in the hammock he found himself sleeping in as he slowly woke. He wasn't quite sure as to why he was in a hammock, or how he had gotten there. He didn't press much but rather took to turning over in the very soft and furry sling that cradled him. He tried his best to enjoy the tranquility despite his sore body and massive headache. He figured that he had drank too much at the picnic or something, and somehow ended up at his mother's house. He briefly remembered that she did not have a hammock when something soft prodded at his back.

"Hey, it's time to move. We can't stay here much longer."

He recognized that voice, young, strong, and assured; it was Melody. He must have gone to with Trish and Melody after whatever may have happened at that picnic. It was odd for a hotel to have a hammock but regardless he was simply glad he had made it safely to somewhere. He murmured wordlessly and rolled over, away from the prodding the best he could in an attempt to go back to sleep. There was then another more forceful prodding, this time in his side.

"Mr. Scientist, I implore that you get up." Carlos moaned and squirmed but still refused.

Not with the headache he had and the more than promised nausea that would follow once he stood. If he had enough drinks to black out what had happened that night then he was sure to be sick, getting out of the comfortable sling was the last thing he needed.

"Fucking lazy, Dorothy." Carlos cracked an eye open, face met with the green and pink soft hairs of the hammock around him.

There was no way sweet young Melody would say such a word, not around him at least. Sure she was 14 but the girl at most might say that around her friends. But what gave him more pause was that she had called him 'Dorothy'.

Strange memories of the night before started to ebb into his mind, his hallucinations, the lack of a hospital, a fire, a black mass, and him ramblings of Science. His chest was starting to feel tight, his nerves on end, and he suddenly wanted to find his clothes and do nothing but run; because there was something not right.

Before he could do any of this there was a loud rumbling noise from where the prodding had come, followed by the ringing of air being sliced, and then sudden drop of the hammock near his feet. Carlos came crashing to the ground, feet first, sliding out of the hammock and onto the rough and dusty ground. He didn't feel nauseous, but his head and body started to bloom with pain as he skid against the earth. Once his body came to stop he clutched his head, the pain being the worst from it.

"Look, I know it hurts now, but trust me when I say you will be in a lot more pain when the trees wake up."

"Wha-"

"Come on Mr. Scientist."

A pair of small calloused hands were place on his shoulders and helped him sit up. His head swayed on the inside like an overfilled fishbowl and his stomach was in knots of hunger and unease. Once he was fully sitting the hands left him and a large bundle of clothes were shoved into his hands.

"Put these back on, and hurry. The sun is almost up." The cold metal of his glasses pressed against his face with gentle easy. They were crooked but everything came into focus in the low light that tinged the world a baby blue.

He must have hit his head exceptionally hard, for in full focus and with a now semi-clear head he again saw the young medusa. She pulled back from him after placing the glasses on him and turned away from him to pick up the _squirming _mass behind her. It reminded Carlos of living shadows or some pitch black sea creature, its feature indiscernible and whole mass moving. It inched its way toward her, the girl picking it up and petting it when it was close enough. He could hear the light clack of teeth, the purr of a cat, and the coo of some bird being made by the mass as she stroked it. His eyes widened and breath stopped as he watched the large mass start to twist around her arm, it's body becoming smaller. It shrunk and twisted until it was just a simple black bracelet on her wrist, maybe one sixteenth of the size it was before.

His brain stared to race, trying to figure out how exactly that had just happened and if the girl herself even existed in the first place. He began to run through the possibilities. He could be dreaming, but he could feel the pain of his head clearly, and he had never felt pain in his dreams before. Maybe he was simply still hallucinating, just seeing the girl and her odd creature. He looked around to take in the sight around him. In his lap was his clothes, ten feet away was his laptop, in the center of the small clearing there were in was a simple fire pit, surrounding him was a forest of green and purple _haired_ trees. Their bark and branches covered in it, the majority of it cascading down from where leaves would normally be. They looked like plush weeping willows. He looked at the one beside him, the makeshift hammock made from its 'leaves' slowly pulling itself upwards, back to the top of the tree and revealing a _face_. Clearly seen eyes, lips, and nose could be made out between the bark and fur. Carlos reached out and gently touched where its cheek would be and be found the bark to be _warm_. It was then that he decided he was probably not hallucinating.

"Stop!" Before he could react his arm that was touching the tree was quickly pulled away, his body tugged at until he was facing the little medusa again. "Do you want to kill is both?"

His mind felt like fractured glass, leaving him unable to do much then blink at the girl. She let go of his arm and sighed.

"Okay. This," The girl gestured to the trees around them. "is the whispering forest. It sleeps just like everyone else, but once the forest is awake it is a highly dangerous place. So, unless you want to become one of these trees, bound to say endless compliments at those who wonder in, I suggest you get dressed and follow me."

All of the girl's eyes, even the ones of each small snake glared at him, wanting for him to show some response or acknowledgement to her statement. Carlos however just watched her, perfectly still, not truly seeing her anymore. She went to wave her hand in front of his face when he suddenly sprang up from where he was, throwing the rest of his clothes to the ground while he struggled with his pants.

It had taken him a moment, a small time for it to all click into place, but once he had realized he was surrounded by the most scientifically interesting forest he had to take action. Once his pants were on searched the camp fire area for his laptop, finding it not too far off. He ran to it and scooped it up quickly before running back to the tree.

"Scientist?..." The girl stammered as he drew close, but he paid her no heed.

Once at the tree he quickly pulled out the laptop, booted it up, and set it on the ground before pulling out small cables and other little on-the-go instruments he liked to stick inside of his case.

"Scientist, what are you doing?..."

His laptop had finally booted up completely and his fingers flew across its keys putting in the password. Once it would let him he quickly found his recoding program and activated it and plugged a small microphone into it. He clicked the record button on the program, holding the microphone close to his mouth.

"November 1st 2014, Carlos Ramirez. I am currently looking at a tree that seems to be covered in fine white, green, and purple hairs."

"Scientist! Stop it, what are you even thinking?!"

His fingers ghosted over the hairs near the face on the tree as he continued.

"The hairs seem to be quite soft to the touch and cover the entire surface of the tree." He looked up into the branches where the hairs grew in thicker places along the branches, spilling down and around the tree.

"Stop it we don't have much _time_!" Carlos quickly wheeled around to the girl, pressing a finger to his lips, his eyebrows scrunched together and a frown on his lips.

"Shush!" He turned back to the tree, his eyes fixed on the branches above him. "There do not seem to be any leaves or other noticeable featured that are typical for a tree of this type."

He moved back down to the face on the tree, reaching out a hand to once again touch the face. He first touched the nose, the coarse feel of the hard splintering wood under the hairs. He sucked in a breath, wanting to describe the feel when he felt warm, no, _hot_ air push out from the nostrils.

"Its…breathing…"

His body went ridged as his mind spun with theories and possibilities. All of it was completely and utterly fascinating! Here he was, all around him _breathing_ trees with _faces_, a girl with snakes for hair like out of the old myths, and three eyes! All this just from the immediate things around him! He felt real, he felt the pain in his head and as long as he was still taking in oxygen he would have to throw out his degrees to would pass up such a golden opportunity. He had his laptop, though he wished he had more of his equipment, he still could perform ground breaking, never before done, Science! Before he could start little arms wrapped around his waist and started to lift him.

"_No more_! We are going _now_!"

His entire body was picked up off the ground bring carried by the small girl. The cable of the microphone pulled out from the laptop as she carried him backwards. He started to flail attempting to get out of the, oddly strong girl's grasp.

"No! Wait, please! This is amazing! I must to run some tests!"

"No! No tests, no more waiting, no more touching, not more trying to get us killed! We. Are. Going."

"_Why, is that you, Tamika?_"

The voice, or maybe voices, were nearly unearthly. He could not tell if they were male or female. He took a quick glance around him, and through each hair that hung around each one he could see black beady eyes. Each pair of eyes glimmered and reflected in the morning light, like a clear chucks of obsidian. The girl completely stopped, holding Carlos still in the air, her feet in mid step. She was quiet, not saying a word as she slowly placed Carlos back on the ground. He could feel her shaking.

"_My you sure look lovely today! Did you do something new with your hair?_"

Once his feet were firmly on the ground he turned to the girl, his mouth open to speak. But with a quick tug she had pulled him down to her level, clasping a hand over his mouth.

"Be quiet." She whispered.

"_What are you saying dear?"_

"Get ready to run."

"_You can tell us, Tamika. We care share secrets with each other and be very good friends."_

"And, whatever you do."

"_No one can hurt you here, here you can be safe and free! Wouldn't you like that, Tamika?_"

"Don't look back, don't listen, and go back for nothing. Now…"

Carlos casted a glace to the girl, whom the trees were calling Tamika. He knew that wasn't her name, or at least it shouldn't. However, now was not the time. He could see the girl's breathing was rapid, he could feel the sweat on her palms and shaking of her body. She was terrified, a small girl of 14 strong enough to lift him off the ground, was _afraid_ of talking trees. Instead craned his neck till he could see the tree that his laptop and case lay under. He figured listening to the girl was probably the best idea, the smartest idea, the one that would result in the best chances of avoiding the supposed death that the girl said the trees would bring.

"_Tamika, stay with us! We can-"_

"Run!" The girl let him go, sprinting towards a pathway that he had not noticed before towards their right. He should have run with her towards the exit, the planned escape that they could make while they had time. There had always been a lot of things Carlos should have done, not going back for his laptop was just another thing he would have to add to that list.

Carlos instead ran full speed back towards the tree where his laptop sat. Behind him, in some unfamiliar language he heard the yell of the small girl. He knew she of her worries but he was sure that they were just trees. Sure they were talking trees, but trees don't move and can't chase after them. What fears the child might have had were quite possibly nothing but just that, completely unfounded fears and nothing more. He came to the tree, using an arm to quickly brush away the draped hair, and leaned down to start gathering his equipment.

Or he would, but he found himself stopped short body restrained by the arm, just inches from the device. He turned and found the hair he had pushed away had wrapped itself around his wrist inching its way up his arm.

"Oh…"

He watched the hair-tendril curl its way around him, the hairs soft and oddly warm. He started reaching for the laptop again, if he could just reach it he could run a few more tests and if he could get out of its grasp maybe a few experiments as well. He at least had to take a few notes. If he could just manage to grab it and balance the laptop on his knee, he would be set. No matter how far he stretched or pulled he could not grab the device. Soon he noticed that the distance between him and the laptop was widening. Maybe he should have just listened to the girl's advice.

"Let him go!"

Carlos turned towards the voice over his right shoulder, just in time to see a large stone slam into the hairy tendril just barely above his hand. There was a high-pitched shrill, the hairy appendage retreating from his limb. Carlos fell to the ground, his face scrapping along the dirt next to his notebook, his hands stinging with embedded rocks. Carlos scrambled into a sitting position, his bare back against the tree. In the distance he saw the girl holding a sling shot, aiming at one of the tendrils that were making their way towards her.

"For fucks sake, run!"

His head was pulsating with pain again, his vision swam, and his thoughts hard to grasp. He knew that she was right that he needed to go, but he found himself unable to keep his focus. He held the sides of his head, attempting to hold the pulses still and clear out the mental fog. His sight finally calmed, the world around him made sense, and he was able to see the new hairy appendage just inches from his face. He let out a cry and in a flail of limbs rushed to get away. He avoided the tendril but nearly stepped on his laptop.

He knew he should have been thinking what he was, that he should just run and get away from there and leave as soon as possible, despite the scientific possibilities. But the computer was right there, it wouldn't take much to bend down and gather it all up. So he did, dodging another tentacle as he frantically started to throw the odds and ends he had pulled out before back into the case. He heard a slice of air being cut followed by another loud thump which he hopefully assumed was the girl blocking another of the offending limbs of the tree.

"Stop bumbling around and _run_ damn it!"

He grabbed the cables and instruments, picking up some dirt along with them, and threw them into the bag before swinging it over his shoulder. He had just closed the top of the laptop when he felt himself completely lose his balance.

He protectively cradled the computer in his arms against his chest, his eyes pressed shut and ready for impact of the ground again, but none came. When opened his eyes he say he was now floating at least 2 feet above the ground, surrounded by a giant pale blue bubble that was completely defying gravity.

The bubble had him moving at a slow pace, yet the limbs of the trees would not near it. The ones that hung about him did so in a five foot radius. He tried to get his bearings inside of the bubble, fumbling around until he was laying on his stomach facing the direction the bubble was headed. Up ahead he saw the girl, arms outstretched, body perfectly still, face pulled tight in concentration as three of the tendrils wiggled around her. She too was inside of a bubble, one far larger than the one Carlos was in. Carlos felt himself grinning.

"How are you doing that?" He called out to her, but there was no reply from the girl.

He was still a few feet away when the bubbles suddenly popped dropping him back to the ground as he watched the young girl crumple into a heap, unmoving. Everything slowed for him, cold fear washing through him. The young girl, who looked like Melody, how he was sure was somehow Melody was now a sill heap. He sprung to his feet, his pain far forgotten, as he sped to her side racing the appendages of the trees.

He beat them to her, scooping the girl into his arms before running as best as he could while avoiding the tendrils. Somehow, with some creative dodging, he made it away from the trees in the clearing and down the pathway, heading hopefully to the exit.

He ran down the path made by the frequent travel, following it as it weaved between the trees as he found himself just a smidgen ahead of the trees reach as he past each one by. His muscles burned and his breath came in gasping breaths but he sprinted forward desperate to get to a safer area. He needed to protect Melody.

Eventually he broke free of the forest, both of them seemingly fully intact. He looked around, finding seemingly endless sands, the forest it's self abruptly stopping at its edge. He wanted to explore, to find out the very sudden fracture between the two. But there were more important things on hand. He went to set the girl down, his breath cool against his now rapidly heating skin from the desert climate, when he stopped and stared at the small girl.

He was sure that there had been no other young girls there with him, that she had been the only one. She looked exactly like Melody, more so now that the snakes I her hair had been replaced with long wavy hair and the third eye in her forehead had instead turned into some kind of sigma or tattoo.

He spun back to look at the forest, some of the tendrils would be seen occasionally surfacing from the tops, swimming in the air like multicolored fish, before dipping back under. He feared he had left the girl back in there, that he had mistaken her for another he had somehow not seen. However they could still be the same, they still looked like Melody, he still felt so sure she was Melody. He lay her down in the sand, using the case of his laptop as a pillow for her after he zipped it back up.

Once he had her situated he took her pulse and a closer look at her. Her heartbeat seemed normal and her breathing even, but he was a Scientist not a doctor so he could not be sure. He saw that she was bleeding from her ears and nose, but the rest of his clothes had been left behind in the forest and so he let the blood be.

Other than the small amounts of blood the girl seemed fine. He could feel a stabbing in his heart still as he watched her. There had to be some way to wake her up, his took hold of one of her shoulders lightly shaking it.

"Melody? Melody, are you okay?" He waited and the girl gave no response, her breathing still the same. An idea crossed his mind, one that left a small drop of terror in his heart. He gulped and he shook her shoulder again.

"T-Tamika?" This time she stirred, coughing up small spurts of blood as she opened her eyes.

"Hey there Scientist…"


End file.
